Share This Event

Jimmie's Chicken Shack blends funk-metal with elements of ska and reggae but also a surprising acoustic prowess. Lead vocalist Jimmy HaHa grew up in Maryland and played with a group named Ten Times Big for several years. After the band broke up, he hit the snowboarding circuit for two years but then began several acoustic jams with friends. HaHa recruited drummer Jim Chaney (from Ten Times Big), longtime friend Che' Lemon on bass, and guitarist Dave Dowling (aka Double D) to form Jimmie's Chicken Shack. Based in Annapolis, MD, the group formed their own Fowl Records and released Give Something Back. After selling tens of thousands of records around the Baltimore area, Jimmie's Chicken Shack signed to Elton John's Rocket Records and released their major-label debut, Pushing the Salmanilla Envelope. Still involved with their own label, however, the group also released The Original Recipe, a collection of early recordings, followed in 1999 by Bring Your Own Stereo.

Hershey, PA’s THE APRIL SKIES are less capable of not making music than anyone you’re likely to come across. For singer/songwriter/guitarist Jake Crawford, it’s simply a matter of not having a shut-off valve. “I’m always writing songs. There’s never a moment where there is not some riff or melody or some lyrics playing in my head,” he says. “I simply couldn’t stop writing if I tried.” With the exception of the occasional hiatus, THE APRIL SKIES have been steadily making music since 1988. They ruled PA back in the early ’90s alongside the big guns like LIVE, THE OCEAN BLUE and SUDDENLY, TAMMY!, packing out clubs and in general enjoying the many perks that come with semi-national stardom.

THE APRIL SKIES deliver the goods not by imitation, but by a simple understanding of what it was that made bands like U2, ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN, and THE CURE so fresh and exciting in the first place, and folding those elements into their own sound. “That music is what we all grew up on and it’s truly ingrained in us. That’s why I think it’s so easy for us to sound like this,” Crawford shrugs. “It’s really who we are and what we do. We don’t purposely try to sound like anything. That would be fake.”

Pop Matters said about the band: “Watching this band mature into the juggernaut of pop-rock that they are now has been a joy. The April Skies soar as high as U2.” And the praise hasn’t stopped there.

Avery

Avery is a grunge-punk band based in Lancaster County. If you have information about any upcoming shows, email us at goaveryofficial@gmail.com. Be sure to check out our album, Punk's Not Dead.